Machine for making radiator-tubes.



No. 777,817. PATENTED DEC. 20, 1904.

. F. H. STOLP.

MACHINE FOR MAKING RADIATOR TUBES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 11, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

b L-D W/TNESSES: INVENTOH 1 I 0 m. MM

UNITED STATES Patented December 20,

PATENT OFFICE.

MACHINE FOR MAKING RADIATOR-TUBES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 777,817, dated De mber20, 1904.

Application filed April 11,1903, Serial No. 152,208.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK H. SToLP, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for MakingRadiator- Tubes, of which the following is a specification.

The efficiency of a radiator depends to a great extent upon the area ofits radiatingsurface. To provide a maximum radiatingsurface and at thesame time minimize the size of the radiator, recourse has been had toso-ealled extended radiating-surfaces, and these have been of variouskinds. When lightness is a desideratum, the radiator has been made oftubes having annular disks slipped onto them and secured at suitabledistances apart, this being a form popular in automobile construction.It has also been proposed to use a tube around which a strip or ribbonof copper or other sheet metal is wound helically to provide a helicalflange resembling the flange or blade of a spiral conveyer, exceptingthat itis provided with flutes or corrugations that are radial withrespect to the tube and that decrease in depth from the surface of thetube outward radially. It is to a machine for making radiator-tubes ofthis type that the present invention relates, and its object is toprovide a machine that will make such tubes perfectly and with absoluteuniformity and at a cost sufliciently low to place themon acommercially-available basis.

To these ends the invention consists in the features of novelty that arehereinafter described With reference to the accompanying drawings, whichare made a part of this specification, and in which Figure l is a frontelevation of a machine embodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a plan viewthereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation thereof on the line 3 3, Fig.2.

A A are crimping-rolls having working faces provided with flutes orcorrugations that are disposed parallel with their axes. The rolls aresupported in such relations to each other that their flutes orcorrugations intermesh, while at the same time there is sufficient spacebetween them to admit a strip or ribbon of thin copper or other suitablemetal of which the extended radiating-surface is to be made. A coil B ofthis strip or ribbon is wound upon a spool B, from which it is unwoundin response to the pull of the crimping-rolls, and a guide C is arrangedbetween the spool and rolls to insure its being properly fed to the biteof the rolls. A is provided with some suitable device D for turning it,and the roll A derives its motion from the roll A through theintervention of the strip or ribbon. These rolls form in the strip asuccession of transverse crimps or corrugations of uniform depth fromside to side of the strip, as shown at Z).

Before feeding the end of the strip into the bite of the crimping-rollsit is provided with a single perforation, and after a suflicient lengthhas passed through the rolls this perforated end is buttoned or hookedonto a stud 6, projecting from the face of a chuck E. This chuck alsocarries a mandrel F and is so disposed that the mandrel is at rightangles to the axes of the crimping-rolls and a little to one side of theplane of their working faces, so that the crimped strip coming from therolls will be tangential to the mandrel. Means are provided for rotatingthe chuck and mandrel, so that as fast as the crimped strip comes fromthe rolls it is wound upon the mandrel edgewise, and means are providedfor moving the mandrel endwise also, so that the winding will take ahelical form, as shown at 5. V

The surface speed of the mandrel is about the same as the surface speedof the crimping-rolls, so that as fast as the crimped strip is deliveredfrom the rolls it is wound upon the mandrel. It is manifest, however,that in order that this winding may take place, maintaining the woundstrip in a position substantially radial with respect to the mandrel, analteration in the condition of the crimps must take place as the windingproceeds, because the diameter of the completed structure is greater atthe outer edge of the wound strip than it is at the surface of themandrel. In consequence of this the crimped strip stretches alonglongitudinal lines excepting at its edge, which directly contacts withthe mandrel, and the extent of this stretching in- The roll I creasesfrom said edge to its outer edge. As a result of this the crimps orcorrugations are of greatest depth immediately adjacent to the mandrel,and from this point outward radially they gradually decrease in depth,being of least depth, or possibly aid, at the outer margin of the woundstrip. If this process be continued until the mandrel reaches the limitof its endwise travel and the strip be severed at the terminus of thewound portion and removed from the mandrel, it will be found to be ahelix with the described radial crimps or corrugations of graduateddepths, and this helix may he slipped onto and secured by solder orotherwise to the tubes that are to be used in the construction ofradiators. I prefer, however, to use these tubes as mandrels, each beingthe mandrel on which its own individual helix is made, and hence whenthe winding is complete the end of the helix is made fast to its tubularmandrel by a drop of solder or other suitable means, the other endhaving been buttoned to the chuck, as already described. The chuck isthen removed, carrying with it the tubular mandrel and helix, (or, inother words, the radiatortube with its extended radiating-surface,) andthe whole is immersed in a solder-bath or otherwise treated, so that thehelix and tube are firmly and permanently united. The chuck is thenremoved and used for another operation.

To produce the combined rotary and endwise movement of the mandrel, anysuitable mechanism may be used; but I prefer to use the mechanism now tobe described because it is simple and has proven absolutely satisfactoryin practice.

The chuck Eis carried by a short shaft which is journaled in a bearing Gand carries a miterwheel H, which meshes with a correspondingmiter-wheel H, carried by a short shaft which is journaled in a bearingG and carries a sprocket-wheel I. The two bearings G and G are supportedby a carriage J, which is slidably mounted upon apair of parallel tracksor ways K, suitably supported by the table of the machine. To thecarriage is attached one end of a band or cord M, the other end of whichis attached to a drum or spool N, the shaft of which carries a pinion O,which meshes with a second pinion P on the shaft of a sprocketwheel Q.This sprocket-wheel is embraced by a sprocket-chain R, which embracesalso a sprocket-wheel S on the shaft of the crimpingroll A, so that asthe said crimping-roll is revolved movement is transmitted through theconnections just described to the carriage J. The relative proportionsof the several wheels included in this transmitting mechanism should besuch as to give the carriage the desired speed relatively to the speedof the crimping-rolls, so as to make the helix of the desired pitch.

The lower run of the sprocket-chain engages the top side of thesprocket-wheel I, being held in contact therewith by an adjustablepresser T, so that it imparts movement to the said wheel, and throughthe parts H H and their accessories the rotary movement is imparted tothe mandrel.

U is a guide-bracket having through it an opening for receiving themandrel, whereby the latter is held against lateral displacement orflexure incident to the strains put upon it in winding up the crimpedstrip.

What I claim as new is 1. In a machine for making radiator-tubes,

having extended radiating-surfaces consisting of a crimped metallicribbon wound spirally about the tube proper, the combination ofcooperating crimping-rolls arranged to produce transverse crimps orcorrugations in the ribbon as it passes between them, a mandrel arrangedin operative relation to said crimpingrolls and adapted to have thecrimped ribbon wound spirally upon it, edgewise, the axis of the mandrelbeing transverse to the axes of the crimping-rolls, and means forrevolving the crimping-rolls and mandrel at correlative speeds wherebyas the ribbon is crimped and leaves the crimping-rolls it is woundspirally upon the mandrel edgewise, substantially as described.

'2. In a machine of the class described, the combination ofcrimping-rolls, a mandrel arranged in operative relation thereto, meansfor revolving the mandrel and means for moving the mandrel endwisewhereby the strip of material crimped by the crimping-rolls is woundspirally upon the mandrel, substarr tially as described. a

3. In a machine of the class described the combination ofcrimping-rolls, a mandrel arranged at right angles to the axes of thecrimping-rolls and means forrevolving' the mandrel whereby the strip ofmaterial crimped by the crimping-rolls is wound upon the mandrel,substantially as described.

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination ofcrimping-rolls, a mandrel arranged at right angles to the axes of thecrimping-rolls, means for revolving the mandrel and means for moving themandrel endwise whereby the strip crimped upon the crimping-rolls iswound spirally upon the mandrel, substantially as described.

5. In a machine of the class described the combination ofcrimping-rolls, a mandrel arranged at right angles to the axes of thecrimping-rolls and at one side of the plane of their working faces andmeans for revolving the mandrel whereby the strip crimped by thecrimping-rolls is wound upon the mandrel, substantially as described.

6. In a machine of the class described the combination ofcrimping-rolls, a mandrel arranged at right angles to the axes of thecrimping-rolls and at one side of the plane of their working faces,means for revolving the man- IOO drel and means for moving the mandrelendwise whereby the strip crimped by the crimping-rolls is woundspirally upon the mandrel, substantially as described.

7 In a machine of the class described, the combination ofcrimping-rolls, a tubular mandrel arranged in operative relationthereto, means for revolving the mandrel and means for moving themandrel endwise whereby the strip crimped by the crimping-rolls is woundspirally upon the mandrel, substantially as described.

8. In a machine of the class described the combination ofcrimping-rolls, a mandrel arranged in operative relation thereto, achuck adapted to hold the mandrel, means for revolving the chuck andmeans for moving the chuck endwise, substantially as described.

9. In a machine of the class described the combination ofcrimping-rolls, a mandrel arranged in operative relation thereto, achuck adapted to hold the mandrel, a movable carriage on which the chuckis mounted, means for moving the carriage and means for revolving thechuck, substantially as described.

10. In a machine of the class described, the combinationofcrimping-rolls, a mandrel arranged in operative relation thereto, achuck to which the mandrel is secured, a movable carriage on which thechuck is mounted, a

miter-wheel carried by the shaft of the chuck, a second miter wheelmeshing therewith, means for revolving the second miter-wheel and meansfor moving the carriage, substantially as described.

11. In a machine of the class described, the combination ofcrimping-rolls, a mandrel arranged in operative relation thereto, achuck carrying the mandrel, a movable carriage supporting the chuck, aband one end of which is attached to the carriage, a drum to which theother end of the band is attached, means for revolving the drum andmeans for rotating the chuck, substantially as described.

12. In a machine of the class described, the combination ofcrimping-rolls, a mandrel arranged in operative relation thereto, achuck to Which one end of the mandrel is secured, a movable carriagesupporting the chuck, a sprocket-Wheel supported by the carriage,

;means for transmitting movement from the sprocket-wheel to the'chuck, asprocket-chain engaging the wheel, means for driving the sprocket-chainand means for moving the carriage and thereby moving the mandrelendwise, substantially as described.

FRANK H. STOLP. Witnesses:

H. M. M oDoNELL, L. M. HOPKINS.

